Soil as key issue to climate change

Our planet is in peril due to the continuous degradation of ecosystems. A number of interrelated factors contribute to this problem, which place the livelihood of millions of people, flora and fauna in danger. One such complex interrelated factor is climate change and land degradation. Climate change affects land potentials through drought, flooding and other impacts. Yet when the land is degraded, it emits more greenhouse gases and in turn worsens climate change.

Although scientific researchers have been long pointing this vicious cycle between climate change and land, it has not been much debated by the international community at policy-making processes. In recent high-level conference on soil and climate change organized by the European Commission, the issue on how on the relationship between soil and climate change, and the role of soil management in climate change mitigation and adaptation was on the table. The conference asked participants - can soil make a difference? The answer is clear. Yes, soil can make a difference in addressing today’s climate change issue, and we must focus on both land and climate change to address it for a number of reasons. Let us give you a few examples which address how land and soil degradation related to climate change.

• Presentation of the UNCCD Executive Secretary on soil can make a difference
  • PDF
  • Presentation
• Land and climate change
• Land degradation and poverty
• Energy security
• Food security
• The UNCCD processes to address climate change and soil

Land and climate change

Atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations have been increasing for about 2 centuries, mostly as a result of human (anthropogenic) activities, and now are higher than they have been for over 400,000 years. The process by which carbon dioxide sinks (natural and artificial) remove CO2 from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration. Carbon as plant organic matter is sequestered in soils. Soil carbon sequestration is an important and immediate sink for removing atmospheric carbon dioxide and slowing global warming and climate change. Organically managed soils can convert carbon dioxide from a greenhouse gas into a food-producing asset. Soils contain more carbon than is contained in vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Non-agricultural soils carbon sequestration has the potential to substantially mitigate global warming and climate change.

Subsequently, the land should be viewed from a new value; that of its capability to sequester and to literally "breathe in" the excess blanket of CO2 and convert it into stored carbon and cool the globe. The CO2, when mixed with water and sun; enriches the soil; giving life to the tree; that which powers ecology: eventually generating more carbon sinks. If soil is being lost, so too is the carbon sequestration potential and ecological foundation on which production and conservation are based. Soil carbon sequestration is switched OFF everywhere there is depleted soil. Recognizing the problem is the first step, doing something about it; like switching it back ON is our next step. Consequently, it becomes imperative to make concerted efforts to put the issues of land and soil as major themes in the climate change negotiations. Also, raising awareness on the political significance of related issues would be important.

Land degradation and poverty

Land degradation occurs everywhere, but when it occurs in the drylands, it is called "desertification". Drylands cover approximately 41 percent of the globe's land surface where more than 2 billion people, a third of the entire world population, live. It is here – where the soils are especially fragile, vegetation is sparse and the climate is particularly unforgiving – that desertification takes hold. Drylands vulnerable to desertification stretch over 45 per cent of the global land surface, some 10-20 per cent of which are already degraded. Over 250 million people are directly affected by land degradation. Africa is particularly threatened because the land degradation processes affect about 46 per cent of the whole continent. Asia, on the other hand, is the most severely affected continent in terms of the number of people affected by desertification and drought.

According to Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, populations in drylands suffer from the poorest economic conditions. Drylands have the lowest GDP per capita and the highest infant mortality rates. Worse still, much of soil degradation is occurring in drylands, where endemic poverty and hunger are prevalent. The decline in the fertility of land reduces crop production and additional income sources. And when a family cannot survive with their traditional livelihoods, men embark on seasonal or permanent migrations. These circumstances aggravate the burden on women by increasing their workload, while the loss in land productivity reduces the level of agricultural production. Land degradation can also trigger a vicious cycle of environmental degradation, impoverishment, migration and conflicts, often also putting the political stability of affected countries and regions at risk. It is estimated that about half of all armed conflicts have environmental causal factors related to drylands. The particular conflict sensitivity of these areas has worsened as a result of climate change and the ensuing droughts and extreme weather conditions.

Energy security

Carbon as plant organic matter is sequestered in soils. Consequently, soils contain more carbon than is found in vegetation and the atmosphere combined. There are various methods to significantly enhance carbon sequestration in soil while improving soil properties. One such example could be the production of energy crops as agrofuel. This should be on marginal land, in such a way as to avoid cropland as a whole expanding at the expense of natural forests and grassland. Some studies indicate that non-food energy crops grown in drylands curb soil erosion due to their extensive roots which are resistant to drought and floods. Therefore, in drylands, careful selection of non-food crops could not only significantly reduce competition between food security and energy security, but could also provide income-generation opportunities, as well as opportunities to reduce soil degradation. Furthermore, agrofuel crops judiciously grown as stated above, could have the potential to increase soil organic carbon stocks while simultaneously curbing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere through soil degradation. The foregoing would in turn contribute to climate change mitigation.

Food security

Since 2004 the world has been experiencing a dramatic increase in food prices. According to FAO, during the first three months of 2008, international nominal prices of all major food commodities reached their highest levels in nearly 50 years, and the average increase for basic grains was greater than 50 percent. The projections suggest that food prices are likely to remain high over the next few years, affecting developed and developing countries alike.

Although current high food prices may be mitigated temporarily by new technologies in agricultural production and short-term improvement in market prospects, one must not ignore the fact that the world is facing possible endemic food scarcity. Unsustainable approaches to land management are adding to the already enormous problems in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The global rise in food prices will continue if measures for sustainable land management and soil protection are not implemented.
Press release by the Executive Secretary on food crisis

The UNCCD processes to address soil and climate change

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) provides a global framework to support policies and measures to prevent, control and reverse land degradation through scientific excellence, awareness raising and advocacy, thereby contributing to poverty reduction. The UNCCD 10-year strategic plan and framework (The Strategy), unanimously adopted last year by the Conference of the Parties, highlights the importance of forging a coalition to combat land degradation in the present context of climate change, delivering benefits at all levels and contributing to access to food and water, and to the protection of biodiversity. This global framework offered by the UNCCD can serve as a platform to address the important issue of climate change and soil.

The Convention, as the sole multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) on land and soil degradation, supports affected countries in monitoring and assessing biophysical and socio-economic trends pertaining to desertification/land degradation and mitigation of the effects of drought. The new strategy promotes the use of effective and practical approaches to sustainable land management by seeking to enhance the livelihoods of affected populations, improve ecosystem protection and provide global benefits through combating land degradation, desertification and drought.